


I Will Be Good, If Only for You

by NanixErka



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Adoption, Dadtcher, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Just Warning, Moral Ambiguity, This is a kinda weird one guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:14:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27510613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanixErka/pseuds/NanixErka
Summary: That old, withered heart of his twisted at the thought of her leaving. He was running out of contract ideas. She had all of her hourglasses. Those bright eyes and quiet nights where she’d take off her hat and rest her little head against his tail were numbered. Which is why everything had to go perfectly according to plan. He had to keep things in check, stay alert, be prepared. It had to go off without a hitch.Hook, Line, Sinker.
Relationships: Hat Kid & Snatcher (A Hat in Time)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 100





	I Will Be Good, If Only for You

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate Title: "Snatcher thinks he's being some kind of selfish prick when in reality he's just being a slightly overprotective parent kinda" 
> 
> I had this idea in my head for days and I had to get it out before it drove me nuts.

Snatcher knew he wasn’t good. 

He’d lost most of his kindness and morality centuries ago when he’d started taking souls, doing whatever he had to in order to keep the forest safe for its undead, off-color, and incorporeal inhabitants. 

He also knew that, at least compared to others, he really wasn’t that bad either. 

He had _some_ standards. He wasn’t _heartless_. His terms were firm but fair, and he was mostly pageantry for his own amusement at this point. 

He supposed that was why she stuck around. She had low standards from her prior experience, and knew what to expect from him, up to and including his play-swipes and tossing her - though never harshly, and always into her ridiculous pillow pile. 

He also knew that he _wanted_ her to stick around. At first, he was just amused at her tenacity and bull-headedness, as well as her resilience. As time went on, and the death wish contracts came into being, he found himself coming up with excuses to not take her soul, despite its shining brightness. Regret started to eat at him every so slightly when she recounted her time in Vanessa’s manor, so much so that the contract for the manor… well, he ended up not using it. 

That old, withered heart of his twisted at the thought of her leaving. He was running out of contract ideas. She had all of her hourglasses. Those bright eyes and quiet nights where she’d take off her hat and rest her little head against his tail were numbered. Which is why everything had to go perfectly according to plan. He had to keep things in check, stay alert, be prepared. It had to go off without a hitch. 

Hook, Line, Sinker. 

It had taken quite a few weeks to figure out how her ship's communication works - only ever finagling with the technology when she was well and deep into one of his contracts, and when he intercepted a “If you don’t return now we’re coming to get you” message, he deliberately deleted it

Computers have glitches, of course. Hat kid didn’t have to know she missed it, or that it had even come to her at all. 

And that was when a plan really began to take shape - when he realized that, perhaps, he was really onto something. 

Then, there was the sneaking about in her dreams. That had to be done delicately, since if he lingered too long in a memory, she’d dream about it, and it might turn into a nightmare. Sure, he was being underhanded and sneaky, but he didn’t want to hurt her- even metaphysically

He’d done enough of that for her lifetime. Things would be changing, and soon. 

Her memories only strengthened his resolve. 

Seeing their dismissiveness at her accomplishments, the complete lack of emotional support. Watching her rise above her peers, seeing through her eyes her perfect scores and the awards and feeling her desperate desire to be validated and appreciated. And how often her guardians (She had no parents, go figure) simply ignored her, or latched onto a minor gripe. 

When one of them _hit_ her, and she _apologized*_.. Oh, he nearly threw a fit right then, ripping into the memory with his claws. 

Why she wanted to go home would have baffled him, if he hadn’t been with Vanessa. Sometimes when it's all you know, there’s no such thing as red flags. They’re just… flags. And whatever scant amounts of attention you get feel like love, feel like care and good feelings, even if they aren’t. 

She deserved better. 

And, if everything went as he thought it would, she’d get it. 

One day, while he was doing his regular rounds in Subcon, his eyes glanced up, and he saw a form up in the sky near the Hatted Kid’s ship, and he stopped everything, absentmindedly telling a minion to tell the others he’d be back soon. 

Preferably with a plus-one. 

The shadows took him to a corner of her bridge, where she was explaining frantically that her system had no record of the message they sent, and that she didn’t know they were coming. 

“No, scan my system!” She aggressed, her hat off to the side showing her hair slightly disheveled. She wasn’t even dressed for the day, standing at the bridge in her light green pajamas. “There’s absolutely no record of the message, not even in my trash bin!” 

Did they seriously wake her up for this?? How Rude. 

“Well, we sent it, and it says that it’s confirmed. It's not our fault that your clunker is faulty.” 

His “blood” was boiling. 

But he kept his eyes training on the screen, waiting for a moment to make his entrance. 

“You are returning to Primus Prime post haste” 

“But-” 

“No buts! You’ve been enough of a pain!” 

Alright, that's enough. 

His shadows melted into the darkened floor, and gathered behind the girl, suddenly popping out as quickly as he could manage, reveling for a moment at the shock on the man’s face. 

“ **I’M AFRAID SHE HAS A PRIOR COMMITMENT!** ” The ghost grinned. 

Hat kid jumped in shock “Huh- Snatcher? Where did you-” 

“Later, kiddo” he cut her off. 

“Who are you?” 

“You see that huge, ominous forest on the planet below? That's my kingdom!” His grin never faltered, though his eyes remained focused on the man on the screen. Recalling him from the ghosts memory snooping. This was the one that hit her. 

Oh, he was going to have a _blast_ with this. 

“And, _why_ are you here, exactly?” The man asked, seemingly unimpressed

“Well, I was actually coming up here cause I saw your ship!” He started with truth “Wondered if the kid had called for help in skirting their contracts. Which is unlike her! She’s got a level of competence that puts most adults I knew to shame!” 

His tail was now protectively wrapped around the girl- though not tightly at all. He felt her little hands lightly grip his “fur”. She was trembling.

“Then I get onboard and hear you telling her to leave?? When she is still under contract?? That’s a breach of the law of my land, _sir_ ” he nearly hissed out that last word, seeing the nervousness in the mans eyes 

_Hook_

“... Well, I was unaware she had a prior commitment, but she was ordered to return home-“

“And told you she never got the message!” The ghost interrupted “Now listen here, buddy” 

Snatchers eyes slanted as he looked at the screen “I don’t quite appreciate how you’re talking to a child. Heck, even I changed my tone when I realized she wasn’t in the double digits!”

Which was very true. He’d thought she was at least 12- when he found out she was eight and a half that felt like the beginning of the end. 

“If you’re the instigator of her breach of contract.. Well, I’m not known for my kindness” his grin spread wide “Now, you’re gonna give me and the kiddo here some time to chat and we’ll negotiate with you in… 2 hours? How’s that sound, hm?”

The man seemed indignant “I-“ 

“Great!” And with a single button push, the screen went dark, and the room went with it

He finally looked down at the child, who was staring at him with wide, almost sparkling eyes filled with admiration. It almost made him sheepish.

“Well, I bought you some time, kiddo” he commented, lowering himself to the ground more so he wasn’t towering over her. She seemed to follow suit, and sat herself in the middle of his coil, her little head rested against him. 

“... I’m in big trouble” she muttered, eyes looking away “I’ll get punished when I go home for sure”

“Why? Cause you didn’t get a message? That’s next level dumb” he poked her stomach, getting a sudden giggle out of her “Plus, you’ve got me on your side! Best undead lawyer in the world” 

She gave him a little smile in response to his confidence “Then uh… what’re we gonna do?” 

He gave her a large, almost malicious grin

_Line…_

It had taken about an hour and a half for him to absorb the law texts she brought up, as well as discuss what they could do. They brought up everything from loopholes to just plain laws, but the options seemed relatively thin due to her age. 

“Well… what if you settled here, hm?” 

“Huh?” 

“Park the ship, become an actual citizen, rescind your citizenship to your home planet. Make this home. It’d be very easy to fight back against him trying to take you back there” He explained, feeling his nonexistent heart in this throat despite his casual tone. 

“... Who would take me in?” 

“.. I mean, if you need a place to land, Subcon is big enough” 

There was a silence between them, and he wondered if he’d been too forward, trying to find a way to spin a reason for her to park her ship, to stay. 

Then he heard a sniff. 

He turned his head to face her, finally looking at something that wasn’t a book, and saw her big eyes welling up with tears. 

“Wh… Really?” 

_Okay Jericho, you knew this might happen, time to be vulnerable, you can do it_

He reached out, shrinking further than before to hold her hand up between them. 

“Yeah, kid. Really” he pressed “You deserve a place where people want you around” He squeezed her hand “That guy doesn’t seem to care much for you. You deserve better” 

“You… you want me around?” 

This part he didn’t have to even try to fake or over-dramatize for this part..

“... Kid, don’t tell anybody this or I’ll keep your soul for good but… I’d be _thrilled_ -” He could see that his hand no longer looked normal, but followed along with the emotional openness, the other hand going over hers, rubbing the top of her hand “-If you wanted to make Subcon your home, if you want” 

He knew that just _hearing_ that someone genuinely wanted her around might make her break down, he was aware, but actually seeing the teary joy in her eyes at just being _wanted_ nearly caused him to choke. Long forgotten memories of his desperate begs for Vanessa’s attention and his joy at getting her happiness in his direction - god, how often did this child actually feel cared for? 

“.. Whaddaya say?” 

She couldn’t seem to form a sentence, but gave him a rather enthusiastic nod before letting go of his hands and barreling into him with a tight hug around his now-existent neck - getting his fluffy hair all in her face. He quickly hugged her back in reassurance. 

Sure, he wasn’t good. This was a means to a selfish end. 

But she never needed to know that. She just had to, needed to, _deserved_ to know that someone wanted her around, to be herself. 

He’d spend the rest of her life making up for his selfishness, but for a little bit, he’d revel in it. 

“So, kiddo… I have a bit of a diabolical idea. Wanna hear it?” 

She pulled away from him, wiping at her face, but giving him an “uh huh” with a small grin. 

\--

When the call reconnected, the Ghost King of Subcon Forest was alone in the frame, having taken on a slightly more human appearance. “Hello there” he grinned “Ready to hear what good news I have for you?” 

“That you are handing her over and not wasting any more of my time?” The man glowered

“Better!” The ghost grinned, making sure that his malice showed through. “You don’t have to worry about her anymore, _Josendel_ ” He spit the man’s name from his mouth, recalling the memory of that man’s hand coming down on a 5 year-old’s face. 

The man stiffened “... How do you know my name?” 

“How do you think? My kid told me!” 

“Your kid?” 

“That’s the good news! She’s decided to rescind her citizenship to your garbage little planet, and is now a child of Subcon” He appear-ified a brand new contract “Freshly signed!” 

The man almost gasped indignantly “She can’t do that” 

“Oh, you’ll find that she can” Snatcher couldn’t stop smiling “In fact, your weird little planet has a law that automatically kicks in when someone becomes a citizen of another planet - their citizenship to yours is automatically rescinded! You weirdo nationalists” 

“.. And where is she then?” 

“Oh, she’s been twirling around admiring her new digs in the mirror for the last 10 minutes” He shrugged 

“New … “digs”?” 

“Kiddo! Show the man your upgrade” He called offscreen. 

A little shadow bounded into the room, her glowing eyes seeming to sparkle, her grin glowing. 

The man stumbled back in shock as Snatcher picked up his charge 

“Lookit that! Lookin’ like a proper Subconite!” he praised as she giggled

She looked up at the screen, where a man - one of many who had “taken care of her” stared down in what looked like a mixture of confusion and disgust. 

Emboldened by what was occurring, and the promise of never having to return to that cold planet and its empty promises, she stuck her tongue out at him with a “pbbbttt!” 

“You little brat-!” Despite being on a screen, his hand lifted as if threatening to hit her, and she immediately recoiled, shoving her head into Snatcher’s shoulder with a sharp gasp. 

Snatcher’s grip on her tightened 

“Buddy. If you raise your hand like that again to my kid, I will crawl my way onto your ship and _Rip your heart right out of your chest_!” He hissed with more venom than even he thought possible. “Your days of tormenting this kid are over. Get out of here before I result to … drastic measures.” 

There was another moment of silence before the screen abruptly went black, and the two watched the larger, sleeker ship very abruptly back away from her ship, and take off into outer space. 

“Hah! I’ve still got it” He grinned to himself, his eyes falling on his new charge. Who was staring out into space where the ship once was. “You okay, Kiddo? I know that was a lot” 

“.. Yeah, I think so” She looked back at him, the glamour of the outfit making her eyes shimmer from the tears forming “I spent a long time.. Listening to them, y’know? Now I don’t have to anymore…” She sniffed “He can’t… they can’t ..” 

“They can’t hurt you anymore, kiddo” He said softly. He had to word his next part carefully. 

_Come on, Jericho. You’re not even going to be lying to her. It's just being honest with her. Just be honest. It’ll get you what you want._

“You’ve got me know, hm? I won’t let them get you.” He stated “You’re…” he cleared his throat “You’re my kid now. Subcon’s kid. That's is your home” 

“.. I’m your kid?” 

“You’re my kid” 

She shyly leaned her head against his shoulder hiding her face. 

“... Does that mean you’re my dad?” She asked, muffled by his shoulder. 

… Okay, admittedly, he somehow hadn’t calculated for that. 

He should have, he really should have, but hearing that single syllable word.. 

For the first time in almost a century and a half, he felt tears pricking his glowing eyes. 

He squeezed her “Yeah kid.. Yeah” 

He rested his head on hers, shutting his eyes and reveling in his success. 

_Sinker_


End file.
